Insurgent: Divergent, Book 2

One choice can transform you - or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves - and herself - while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Reached: Matched, Book 3

After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. In this gripping conclusion to the Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.

This was a wonderful end to the series that brought back some of the emotional connection of the original. Unlike something like Divergent's finale, Reached made excellent use of multiple narrators and brought events to good finality without locking in the entire future of every character. I felt satisfied with the world and the story at the end, but also invested in the story as it unfurled. I was especially happy with Xander as a character, who became much more three-dimensional in this story. As a group, Xander, Ky, and Cassia were not wholly annoying with the love triangle and actually realized that there were more important happenings.

Night of Cake & Puppets

Petite though she may be, Zuzana is not known for timidity. Her best friend, Karou, calls her "rabid fairy," her "voodoo eyes" are said to freeze blood, and even her older brother fears her wrath. But when it comes to the simple matter of talking to Mik, or "Violin Boy," her courage deserts her. Now, enough is enough. Zuzana is determined to meet him, and she has a fistful of magic and a plan. It's a wonderfully elaborate treasure hunt of a plan that will take Mik all over Prague on a cold winter's night before finally leading him to the treasure: herself!

While the second in the series had a very different feel, Night of Cake & Puppets felt much more like the first in the series, for which I was grateful. While I was initially displeased at the addition of a second narrator, it totally worked. The story was fun and engaging and it was wonderful to hear more about Zuzana and Mik. Completely recommend it, thought probably only if you are into the series.

Unwind

Conner's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance.

I was hesitant to grant the premise at first, but once I did I found the story captivating. The relationship seemed needless, but there were points in the story that were haunting and beautiful and human and, overall, I would completely recommend this story. There is a scene near the end written from the perspective of one of the antagonists that I can't shake from my mind even weeks after hearing it. So kudos to this author, and pick up this book if you get the chance!

Days of Blood & Starlight

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

The story is still engaging, but this book has a very different feel than the first. Probably because it takes place mostly amoung the non-Humans, it feels less relatable. On the whole it's still a good story, but not quite as captivating as the first. As always Zuzana is the high point.

Damocles

When Earth is rocked by evidence that extraterrestrials may have seeded human DNA throughout the universe, a one-way expedition into deep space is mounted to uncover the truth. What linguist Meg Dupris and her crewmates aboard the Earth ship Damocles discover on Didet - a planet bathed in the near-eternal daylight of seven suns - is a humanoid race with a different language, a different look, and a surprisingly similar society. But here, it’s the "Earthers" who are the extraterrestrial invaders, and it’s up to Meg - a woman haunted by tragedy and obsessed with the power of communication - to find the key to establishing trust between the natives and the newcomers.

I happen to be both, which maybe isn't fair: ) But this book was a wonderful story about space travel and first contact and what that means for a civilization, but also about establishing communication and developing language. Damocles was a phenomenally fun book that I enjoyed every minute of. It doesn't delve too deep into the science -- astrophysics or linguistics -- needed for the book, but I'm actually glad because that would have bogged the story down. I recommend this book if you really wanted to like Ursula K. LeGuin books but could never make it past page 30, or if you took at least one physics, one philosophy, and one linguistics course in college.

The Dog Stars

Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists beyond the airport.

...which is unfortunately pretty boring. The author does a really good job making you feel the isolation and despair and the joy in the really small, everyday things. The narration is also really slow, which probably aids in the feel that this book was going for? But I had to listen to it at 2x speed. Parts of this books were amazing, but for the most part the action felt cursory, the shocking grotesque scenes felt out of place, and the interesting authorial style seemed to dissipate as the story progressed. All told, though, it's an interesting story of the apocalypse that focuses not on fending off zombies or fighting the elements but just on living. I recommend this if you like pastoral novels or don't appreciate the fast-paced hollywood-style of story-telling.

Neuromancer

Twenty years ago, it was as if someone turned on a light. The future blazed into existence with each deliberate word that William Gibson laid down. The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer didn't just explode onto the science fiction scene - it permeated into the collective consciousness, culture, science, and technology.Today, there is only one science fiction masterpiece to thank for the term "cyberpunk," for easing the way into the information age and Internet society.

This book, unfortunately, had a lot of hype. To a degree it lived up to it and delivered an unexpected story that made me, a child of the '90's, rethink some of the pop-culture I thought I knew (cough Matrix cough). That being said, I often felt like there was too much going on -- traditional sci-fi, cyberpunk, noir, etc.. -- and for the life of me couldn't shake a feeling of being disconnected from the story. Maybe that's part of the desired ambiance? I think that this is a must-listen if only to provide the appropriate pop-culture base for people who appreciate sci-fi, but, while this is a genre-defining story, keep your expectations reasonable going into it.

The Fault in Our Stars

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Generally I try to stick to SciFi/Fantasy, so this was not an expected choice for me. However, the book immediately grabbed me and I found myself inventing chores to do around the house so that I could keep listening. Only two thirds of the way through I found myself completely engrossed in the story such that I started bawling. On the bus. In public. It wasn't a pretty picture, but even then I couldn't stop listening. No book that I've listened to, save maybe the removal of the worm in The Ocean at the End of the Lane, has made me outwardly emote so much, and I have to credit John Green's writing for that. I recommend this book if you like reading at all or are invested in humanity.

Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel

Evil is most assuredly afoot - and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade... and a librarian. These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences - the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling - will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest...

Honestly well written and totally fun -- this was my first foray into the steampunk genre, and I was not disappointed. I'm not sure that it's totally MY genre? But this was a super fun story with some great language and interesting character dynamics. I wholeheartedly recommend this story!

Ender's Shadow

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean, the one who became Ender's right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers. Bean's past was a battle just to survive. His success brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters.

Seriously. Ender's Game is a phenomenal book, but everything that made Ender an amazing character is negated by this "sequel". It's well written and an interesting story, and the performance is amazing, but it ruins Ender's Game. If you like the Ender universe and want to read more, read the other set of sequels (starting with Speaker for the Dead) instead.

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